"At the Wiscon panel [personal profile] coffeeandink questioned whether Iemitsu Jr. even has a concept of sexual consent, and thinking about it, I'd say the evidence is slim. The shoguns, whether male or female, simply take what and whom they want, even as they themselves are not free to choose as they would like."
Hm. I would say that Iemitsu Jr. definitely has an idea of sexual consent. She was raped, she knows she was raped, and she knows that she did not want it to happen. However, her idea of consent is strictly bound up in power hierarchies.
Those who have power must give consent in sexual interactions (see the lack of consent in her rape, a rape which she also attributes to her being 'weak', and Iemtisu Jr's comment to the father of her daughter about how it is she who beds him). Underlings give consent to their masters by virtue of the power dynamic.
I would say that in Iemitsu Jr.'s world, an underling can rape an overlord, but an overlord is incapable of raping an underling because Iemtisu Jr. perceives the power dynamic as meaning consent is given by default.
So, I would say that she has definitely an idea of sexual consent, but with the conditional that only certain people have the right to give sexual consent, and that sexual consent can only exist to be given by masters to underlings or between equals.
no subject
Hm. I would say that Iemitsu Jr. definitely has an idea of sexual consent. She was raped, she knows she was raped, and she knows that she did not want it to happen. However, her idea of consent is strictly bound up in power hierarchies.
Those who have power must give consent in sexual interactions (see the lack of consent in her rape, a rape which she also attributes to her being 'weak', and Iemtisu Jr's comment to the father of her daughter about how it is she who beds him). Underlings give consent to their masters by virtue of the power dynamic.
I would say that in Iemitsu Jr.'s world, an underling can rape an overlord, but an overlord is incapable of raping an underling because Iemtisu Jr. perceives the power dynamic as meaning consent is given by default.
So, I would say that she has definitely an idea of sexual consent, but with the conditional that only certain people have the right to give sexual consent, and that sexual consent can only exist to be given by masters to underlings or between equals.